GSI Lumonics cancels plan to become U.S.-based company

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada—GSI Lumonics Inc. announced Aug. 1 that it has withdrawn a proposal submitted to its shareholders to restructure the company as a publicly traded corporation to be located in the U.S.

By Control Engineering Staff

08/06/2003

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada—GSI Lumonics Inc. announced Aug. 1 that it has withdrawn a proposal submitted to its shareholders to restructure the company as a publicly traded corporation to be located in the U.S. A special shareholders meeting scheduled for Aug. 4, 2003, in Bedford, MA, was also cancelled. GSI Lumonics supplies precision motion control components, lasers and laser-based advanced manufacturing systems to the global medical, semiconductor, electronics and industrial markets.

'The company's board of directors and management believed that the domicile issue was important. We wanted to ensure that all shareholders were able to express their opinions. Although, as of the close of business on July 31, 2003, proxies representing more than half of the company's common shares had been submitted indicating a vote in favor of the arrangement proposal, this number was not sufficient to achieve the high standard of a two-thirds majority required to carry the resolution. Therefore, it did not appear that the motion would be passed,' says Charles Winston, GSI Lumonics’ president and CEO. 'Now that this issue has been decided, we will continue to focus on maximizing shareholder value.'